Game Day: Canadiens going for sixth straight win against Blues

The Canadiens will be without No. 1 centre Jonathan Drouin for the third straight game with a lower-body injury.

The Canadiens’ Paul Byron (right) celebrates with teammates Jacob de la Rose and Victor Mete after scoring one of his three goals against the Detroit Red Wings during NHL game at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Dec. 2, 2017.Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images

The Canadiens will be without No. 1 centre Jonathan Drouin for the third straight game with a lower-body injury when they face the St. Louis Blues Tuesday night at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN Radio 690).

The Canadiens (13-12-3) haven’t missed Drouin the last two games, scoring 16 goals in back-to-back victories over the Detroit Red Wings. The Blues, who have a 17-8-2 record, should be a much tougher test, even though they have lost their last three games and have only one win in their last five (1-3-1). The Blues have won their last three games against the Canadiens, including a 4-2 victory in their last meeting on Feb. 11 last season when Patrik Berglund recorded the only hat-trick of his career. The Blues are 5-2-0 in their last seven games against the Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens are on a five-game winning streak and goalie Carey Price has a 5-0-0 record with a 1.20 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage during that span, improving his season record to 8-7-1 with a 2.94 GAA and .905 save percentage. Price was named the NHL’s second star of the week on Monday after going 4-0-0 last week with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage.

“Obviously, Carey’s playing really well,” Canadiens defenceman Jordie Benn said after practice Monday when asked about the team’s recent performance defensively. “We’re not thinking as much. There’s a structure the coaches have put together and you could maybe say that we were just trying to think it too much. Now we’re just more playing and when we’re not thinking, obviously, things just happen more naturally and we’re in the right spots now. It’s just going good right now.”

The Canadiens are sitting in the third and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the Boston Bruins (12-9-4), who hold three games in hand. The Canadiens trail the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs (17-10-1) by six points. The Bruins and Leafs are both off Tuesday night.

Benn picks up his game

Benn, who was made a healthy scratch for one game early in the season when he was struggling, has really picked up his game and Julien now has him on the No. 1 defence pair beside Shea Weber. Benn had 3-4-7 totals in 27 games and is plus-2 while averaging 18:53 of ice time per game.

“First of all, he’s just improved his game,” Julien said about Benn after practice Monday. “I think when I sat him out (for the sixth game of the season) he wasn’t playing well at all. He was fighting the puck, he was hesitating at moving it. He just wasn’t good and that happens in the season for players. So I just sat him out for one game and gave him an opportunity again to watch from upstairs. He came back and he’s been getting better and better all the time, playing well right now. We put them together because we thought it was a good fit. Doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way. But right now, I thought they played well together last game.”

Benn and Weber were both plus-2 in Saturday’s 10-1 win over the Red Wings at the Bell Centre with Benn scoring his third goal of the season and Weber picking up an assist to give him 4-10-14 totals in 21 games with a minus-5 for the season.

Good start for Carr

With Drouin out of the lineup, Daniel Carr will get to play his third game with the Canadiens since getting called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket. In his first two games, Carr has 1-3-4 totals, including a goal, two assists and a plus-3 in Saturday’s 10-1 romp over the Red Wings.

“Obviously, you want to be here,” Carr said following practice Monday about getting called up after posting 12-7-19 totals in 20 games with the Rocket. “Nobody wakes up when they’re 6 years old and says I want to play in the minors. Obviously, it’s sometimes not easy, but you got to remember it’s a process. I’ve learned in four years pro it’s a marathon, not a sprint. I think that’s the big thing.”

Carr played on the fourth line Saturday night along with Byron Froese at centre and Nicolas Deslauriers. The trio combined for eight points with Carr and Deslauriers both getting a goal and two assists and Froese picking up two assists.

“The three of us played together in Laval for a while and we were really good together there,” Carr said. “It’s just one of those things … the three of us have little different nuances in our game, but we have kind of the same general idea in what we’re trying to do and I think it makes it easy for us to read off each other and I think it works well. I think we go out there and go to work … I think that’s the big thing. Both those guys play so hard.”

Carr is in the final season of a two-year, one-way contract worth US$1.45 million that pays him $725,000 this season and can become a restricted free agent after this season.

“I’m pretty grateful to get to play this game every day and pretty blessed,” the 26-year-old said. “Just keeping that in mind all the time and just making sure I’m having fun. I think that’s the big thing. Just go play. This game’s supposed to be fun. I think when you do that you play your best and, for me, that’s my mindset.”

Schlemko fitting in nicely

David Schlemko, who missed the first 25 games of the season after breaking his hand on the first day of training camp, will play his fourth straight game Tuesday night against the Blues. While Schlemko has yet to register a point, he is plus-7, including a plus-5 in Saturday’s win over the Red Wings.

“Honestly, I didn’t really love my game last game,” Schlemko said after practice Monday. “It was kind of a weird game … win 10-1, great for our team. Plus-5 … that’s probably why that’s not the best stat in the world.”

Schlemko’s defence partner, Victor Mete, was also plus-5 and the 19-year-old rookie has impressed Schlemko.

“He’s raw talent,” Schlemko said about Mete, who has four assists and is plus-5 in 26 games. “He skates real well, moves the puck. He’s a really good young player.

“I know I wasn’t that good at 19, that’s for sure,” the 30-year-old Schlemko added with a smile. “He’s got a lot of poise for a young player and I think his confidence just keeps getting better and better.”

Schlemko is also enjoying playing on the same team as Price.

“He makes life a lot easier for defencemen,” Schlemko said about the goalie. “He’s obviously great at stopping the puck, but he plays it so well, too. He’s like having a third defenceman back there, which is really nice when you’re going back – especially against a team like St. Louis. They come hard on the forecheck … it will be nice to have him back there. He’s kind of a one-man breakout sometimes it seems.”

Canadiens numbers

Brendan Gallagher is leading the Canadiens in goals and points with 13-6-19 totals, followed by Drouin (5-12-17), Max Pacioretty (8-8-16), Alex Galchenyuk (6-10-16), Phillip Danault (4-12-16) and Weber (4-10-14). Tuesday’s game will be Weber’s 100th with the Canadiens and he needs one point to hit the 500-mark for his career (187-312-499 totals in 862 NHL games).

The Canadiens rank 25th in the NHL in offence, averaging 2.75 goals per game, and 20th in defence, allowing an average of 3.04 goals per game. They rank 20th on the power play (17.7 per cent) and 24th in penalty-killing (77.2 per cent).

Blues numbers

Jaden Schwartz leads the Blues in scoring with 13-19-32 totals and ranks eighth in the NHL scoring race. Schwartz leads the NHL with 27 even-strength points (9-18-27) and is tied for first in plus/minus at plus-19. Schwartz is followed on the Blues scoring list by Brayden Schenn (10-20-30), Vladimir Tarasenko (12-17-29), defenceman Alex Pietrangelo (7-13-20) and Paul Stastny (6-14-20).

Blues No. 1 goalie Jake Allen, who used to play for the Montreal Juniors in the QMJHL, has a 13-6-2 record with a 2.73 goals-against average and .907 save percentage. Allen recorded a career-high 33 wins last season, including four shutouts.

The Blues rank seventh in the NHL in offence, scoring an average of 3.19 goals per game, and 26th in defence, allowing an average of 2.67 goals per game. They rank 22nd on the power play (17.5 per cent) and 22nd in penalty-killing (77.9 per cent).

The Blues have scored the first goal in 14 games this season and have an 11-2-1 record in those games. They are 6-6-1 when the opposition scores the first goal. The Blues are 7-0-1 when leading after one period and 13-0-0 when leading after two.

The lines

Here’s how the Canadiens forward lines looked at Monday’s practice without Drouin:

Jeff Petry skipped Monday’s practice for a therapy day, meaning the defence pairings were a mishmash. Petry is expected to play against the Blues.

This Date in Habs History

Dec. 5, 1926: Aurèle Joliat became only the third player in NHL history to score 250 career goals in a 4-3 win over the visiting Boston Bruins.

Dec. 5, 1943: Boston’s Herb Cain and Bill Cowley had a goal and two assists each as the Bruins beat the Canadiens 5-4 to snap rookie goalie Bill Durnan’s NHL-record 14-game unbeaten streak after going 11-0-3 to start his career.

Dec. 5, 1984: Mario Tremblay picked up an assist for his 500th career point in a 5-3 win over the Whalers in Hartford.

What’s next?

The Canadiens have a practice scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday in Brossard. The Calgary Flames will be at the Bell Centre Thursday night (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN Radio 690), followed by the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690).

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